sweet nothings

with post #500

I say good-bye to typepad. I guess I started blogging at the end of 2004 with blogger. That didn't work out very well so I think in 2006?? I moved over to typepad. It's been a great run, but I've decided to try something new.

I have my own domain. You can now go to www.staceymichals.com and find me! That will take you to my wordpress blog. I've decided to have my own domain and that way if I ever switch blogs again it won't be such a big deal because I'll still have my blog directed to my domain. make sense?

So far I'm liking the new home...we shall see. I'm learning as I go so please bare with me while I adjust and make changes.

Thank you for a wonderful run here at typepad. I hope you will follow me over to my new home.

I've managed to export this blog and all the posts to the new blog. This blog will remain up until I'm sure I have everything as it should be and then I will delete this blog.

Thank you faithful followers...let's move to the new home and blog 500+ more posts!

until next time...S

 

Spring Break Day 1

We had breakfast at Ronnie Mac's (Nora's choice). Maddie's 3rd breakdown of the morning by not wanting to share her sausage biscuit with Nora. 

After a quick rinse at the carwash...

We then went to Joann's where we picked up a treat for the girls (craft for nora. plastic dogs for maddie). We also bought two pieces of Star Wars fabric that Miss Mads picked out.

(not pictured are the small dog toys she got at jo's. instead she has an empty clinique makeup case)

 

A quick stop into Garden Ridge...was looking for a pretty outdoor rug bug instead found the makings for funnel cakes. yes please!

A stop at a few thrift stores with no finds. A stop at the quilt shop and Hancock fabrics (another piece of star wars fabric)...then it was time for lunch at Chili's (girls picked it because they wanted a chocolate shake). Home for a nap...then back out again for Hobby Lobby (craft supplies) and World Market (rug for front porch). A little time on the swingset, bathtime...then we had spaghetti for dinner and then a little tv time. 

We were all asleep by midnight.

The girls and I have big plans for crafting tomorrow! Can't wait!

until next time...

S

 

Pregnancy book.

I found one of these on pinterest. Then later found the blog where it came from and after I had already started working on mine...she started selling the template. But I figured instead of restarting I'd just continue on my way. If you are interested you can go HERE and purchase the template. It's really adorable!

I started mine on week 5.5...I'm up to week 16. I'll post the lastest weeks as we go along! But for now enjoy! After the pregnancy is complete I'll have it printed in a tidy little book! 

So that's it for now.

until next time...S

 

It's Wednesday...

Around here we are stuffed up or as Mads says...stopped out. We are sneezy and snotty and just don't feel well. It's mainly maddie and I...the stuff blowing around is not on Nora's allergy radar so she's doing great! Rain is in the forecast so I'm praying that the rain will wash away some of the yuck in the air and on the cars and in the trees!

We made a stop at the pharmacy today and I was so limited on what I could buy to take...got to be careful of the peanut! I'm hoping I get a good night's sleep tonight! Something in this arsonal has to work!

We are right around 16 weeks...Took a little belly shot yesterday and thought I'd share. I'm a little late starting this tradition, but the first trimester seemed a little unsure so I didn't do any pics! So here it is...

And yes I'm sporting my favorite pregnancy shirt from my pregnancy with Mads...

Anyway...oh yes. The blog looks a bit different right now. The format is from our old family blog. There will be lots more changes to come within the next couple of weeks. This is post number 497...post 500 will have a special announcement and no it won't be the announcement of what gender peanut is! Although we will hopefully find out next Wednesday.

Until next time...S

 

 

Happy Birthday Mama!

 

(by Nora 2011)

My mom should have been 60 today. Instead she's in Heaven looking down on us. I sure hope they are having a celebration up there. In 2009 the first birthday without my mom, Tim and Nora and I went to Papadeaux's because it was one of my mom's favorite restaurants. I can't remember if we went to a movie or not...

In 2010, We went to dinner and to see Alice in Wonderland just Nora and I while Tim stayed home with Mads. In 2011, we went to see Rango...all 4 of us! This year we went to dinner and a movie at studio movie grill to see the Lorax. Which by the way is an excellent movie!

Maddie doesn't know Memee like Nora. So she doesn't quite understand why we have this little tradition. I don't even know if we meant for it to turn into a tradition or if it just happened that way...The first year it was to help us all. A way to celebrate Mom and remember her. We needed that. I think we probably all cried that night...including Tim.

I guess it might seem silly to some for us to celebrate the birthday of my dead mom. But it's not to us. It makes us feel closer to her. It makes us not forget (not that we do). It helps with the healing. It gives us a special day to talk about her and tell funny stories.

I miss my mom every single day. I HATE cancer. I'm not even sure HATE is strong enough a word. It took my mom from me and my brother and sister. It took her from my dad and her parents. It took Nora's Memee away. It has kept Madelynn and Peanut from knowing their Memee. It took my mom from doing awesome work with her little early childhood/headstart kids. It took away a Sunday school teacher. A sister. A friend. An amazingly awesome Christian.  I realize she's in a better place but I can't imagine that we are better for her being gone...we aren't. I feel like there was so much more for her to do here. It was not her time to go. So I'm pretty sure hate is not a strong enough a word for how much I despise cancer.

Today I'm sad. I've cried more than I have in a long time. I miss her like crazy. I need her here to help me and guide me...to know that I'm doing things right as a mom. I need her to tell me when I'm wrong or to give me advice on how to handle a situation. I realize I had a great example of what a good mom is but I've forgotten things and I don't remember exactly how she handled a situation or what she said...I need her here to tell me and remind me. I need my mom. Just because I'm an adult doesn't mean I don't need my mama. I do. Every time I have a situation I'm unsure of...I try to think of what my mom would've done.

Yeah...I know what you are thinking...a good Christian wouldn't wonder what her mom would do but would rely on God to help her through. I do most of the time but sometimes I want to know what my mom would've done. Sometimes I don't want to rely on somebody that's not there and that I have to fully trust in by faith alone. I want a living being here...I want my mom. 

So negative...yeah sometimes. I am convicted about my unwillingness to rely on my faith sometimes. to rely on God. to trust the Lord to help me make the right decisions, to know how to handle a situation. But see I'm human and I make mistakes and I stumble and I fall and I always turn to the Lord to see me through. So while there are times when I want my mom living and breathing right here to give me words of wisdom and to be my mom...I always, no matter how bad the situation...I turn to the Lord. 

Wow. I like how I managed to turn a happy birthday post into a gripe...sheesh. I'm a total party pooper. But I guess that's what this blog is all about. Just being honest and sharing my feelings. It's a lot easier to share them here than to say them out loud.

Happy Birthday Mama! You are truly missed. You are loved much! je t'aime encour!

until next time...S

 

 

Gender Predictions...how accurate will they be??

My first two pregnancies I really didn't try any of the tests to see if we were having a "boy or girl". I just went by the chinese calendar. It was right both times. I had a ton of sonograms with both of my girls so I pretty much new for sure and pretty quickly well...except with Madelynn.

With Nora we were going to wait for a surprise. At the 20 week sono we told Dr. Rose not to tell us. W few weeks later I had a dream...remember the mel brooks movie spaceballs? and the alien that comes out dancing?? If not...here is a video of that scene. btw i hate that movie!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVZUVeMtYXc  In the dream instead of an alien my sister came out and let's just say it was disturbing. At my 24 week appointment I cried and asked Dr Rose to do a sono and please tell me that I wasn't having a girl...yeah there were obvious 3 little lines. It's a girl. I only told my sister because Tim didn't want to know. So Sister and I kept the sex of the baby a secret until Nora arrived!

With Madelynn I was dead set on finding out because Nora wanted to know. She wanted a baby brother so badly. Yeah...they told us a couple of times that she was really a he...My gut said it was another girl. So I had another sono and sure enough...3 little lines. Definitely a girl! I even did two layouts...one for a boy and one for a girl. You can see them in this post.  Pretty funny. 

Here we are again...We all want to know. It seems the consensus around here...we want a girl. Except Maddie and she wants a boy named LuLu. ummm...ok. We even have a girl name chosen and I absolutely LOVE it!! We don't have a boy name. We always said if we had a boy we'd name him Henry after my grandfather but I'm having issues with that because it's become so popular. Yes, I know we have 26 weeks to name the baby but once we find out in 2 weeks what this peanut is I'm going to want to sew and monogram stuff and I'll need a name!!

Tuesday I had an appointment with Dr. Auers and got to have a sonogram (#5 already!) to check the twin sac to make sure it's shrinking. It is. My placenta is a bit low so let's pray it picks itself up and gets in the right spot!

Most sono techs usually won't guess about the sex until at least 16 or 18 weeks and the one that did the sono on Tuesday did NOT make a guess at all... But we got a pretty good profile shot of the baby. The first thing Tim said when he saw the pic...look it's a boy! 

So far I've had a dr and a sono tech give me their guess...one said boy and one said girl. I won't tell you which said what because personally I'd say the dr would be more accurate than the tech but that's just my opinion...sorry to all you sono techs out there! I posted the pic on an gender ultrasound forum and the opinions are divided evenly.

Here is the pic of Tuesday's (13 weeks 4 days) sono...Make a guess cause I'd love to know what you think it is...

I found numerous online tests you can do with the results telling you whether it's a boy or a girl...

disclaimer...Just an FYI - I used plastic disposable cups for my pee. :D and this is all silliness...I'm not responsible for your results if you try this at home! :D

Red Cabbage Test. You boil half a red cabbage. Then put two parts red cabbage juice and urine together...if it turns purple/blue it's a girl. if it turns pink/red it's a boy. 

Here are my results. The liquid A is what it looked like after it was boiled. The liquid B in the cup is after I added the pee. Looks like Girl.

Baking Soda Test.  Put enough baking soda to fill cover the bottom of a cup. Add pee...if it fizzes it's a boy and if it doesn't react it's a girl. Here are my results...no fizz so Girl results.

Intelligender. Goodness this one wasn't cheap :D But I figured what the heck we'll give it a try. My friend Emily has two boys and a girl. She did the intelligender with all three kids and each time her results were for a boy even the time she had a girl! The results of this one...BOY!

and for the record the other side...

Chinese Calendar. I've gotten two different results on this. On this calendar version http://www.babycenter.com/chinese-gender-predictor  I got BOY results. But if I use the one I used with the girls (which was right both times) I get GIRL.

Drano Test. This is a test I decided to avoid. Just seems a little unsafe to use drano. You can go here to learn about that test if you are willing to try it! http://www.fortunebaby.com/drano-gender-test.html

Gender Quiz. I did this one and the results were 70% chance of a GIRL. http://www.babygenderprediction.com/old-wives-tales-gender-prediction-method.html

Needle or wedding ring test.  Tie a needle or wedding ring to string. Hang it over the mother's belly while she's laying down. If it swings in a circular motion...girl. If it swings left to right...boy.  My wedding ring chose a circular motion...result. GIRL.

Heart rate theory. If the heart rate stays over 140 beats per minute...girl. If it stays under 140...boy. So far this baby's heart rate has stayed between 163 and 169. Result for far...GIRL.

 So there you have it...let's tally. 

sono tech & doctor              boy                girl

cabbage test                                            girl

baking soda                                             girl

intelligender                        boy

chinese calendar                  boy                girl

gender quiz                                              girl

ring test                                                   girl

heart rate                                                 girl

 

Looks like girl is in the lead...my gut thinks it's a girl. But my head is causing total chaos with me because I keep thinking it is a boy and really, I don't want a boy. Nora said she'd be really disappointed if it's a boy. Tim said another girl would be best since we already know how to handle girls. He said either way he doesn't care but girl seems more plausible. I really want another little girl. I know everybody that has a boy swears they are awesome and oh they love their mamas. That's great but I'm a girl mama and I love them like nothing else! I love pretty dresses and tutus and hairbows and sparkly shoes...yes, I'm getting a little less of that with Maddie but she's still all girl sporting her sequin purse and hot pink shoes with her darth vadar shirt! I've looked at boy stuff and it just doesn't hold the appeal. 

Plus boys play sports and they are loud and rowdy and stinky and dirty. I know. I have a brother. 

If we are in fact having a boy...it might take us a little time to adjust. Ironically when we were told that Maddie was actually a girl and not a boy...Nora cried uncontrollably in the sono room. I told her the other day that if we are having a boy this time that we will all love him and he will be just as important to us as the girls are...Luckily we'll have 24 weeks to adjust to the news it's a boy before he actually gets here. 

And please don't take my wrambling the wrong way...I'll honestly love a boy because I already love this baby completely!!

Looks like we'll possibly know mid March...I'll keep you posted!

until next time...
S 

 

 

 

 

The Michals family is growing...by a peanut!

It's official...Baby #3 aka Peanut is due to arrive in August!

In mid December I found out I was pregnant. The week of Christmas I had blood drawn and the numbers were very low. For some reason they asked me to come back the next day to repeat the blood draw which was only about 24 hours later. (HCG levels should double every 48-72 hours) Anyway, the results weren't much better and had only increased by a few. I was told by the nurse/midwife who I was seeing at the time that I should prepare for a miscarriage and then went on to give me details of what to expect. She then said that if nothing happened over Christmas (we were leaving town for about a week) to call after we got back to town.

I kept this all to myself. I didn't want to upset Tim or to have hushed conversations in front of the girls and honestly I didn't want to upset everybody at Christmas. Probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had but it made sense at the time. Over Christmas I prepared myself for what was to come...a miscarriage. I've had a tubal/ectopic pregnancy before but not a miscarriage and that ectopic was horrific. The anticipation was not fun. Knowing what was to come...very sad. I enjoyed Christmas with my family. The knowledge of how blessed I am kept me sane! And in my mind/heart I knew that my sweet unborn baby would go to Heaven to be with my mom...which gave me peace. 

Over the week leading up to Christmas and the week following I continued to expect to start bleeding or cramping...but nothing happened and quite the opposite did...I began to feel more and more pregnant. We came back home on Thursday after Christmas so I went in on Friday for another blood draw. I wanted to know what was going on. I told Tim over the weekend and so we waited for the Tuesday after New Year's to hear the results. He and I laughed and cried. I think he was literally in shock. I'm thinking it was probably a good idea he didn't know over Christmas because all weekend he was in an odd state of shock. The call was funny and the phone nurse said "you are Definitely pregnant and we need to schedule your first appointment" wow...after that i was pretty much in shock. how do you go from "you will probably miscarry" to "let's schedule your first appt" it's not easy to adjust to that.

Fast forward 2 more weeks...first appointment and sonogram. I saw that precious little "thing" and heard a beautiful heartbeat going 169 beats a minute. Estimated due date August 24th. That night I prepared a note "from baby" to big sisters and put it in a box with the sono picture and a pair of little white baby booties.

We shared the good news with Nora and Madelynn...Nora was really excited and Mads had no clue! It was funny! 

Fast forward two more weeks and I started having light pink spotting with awful cramps. Saw a doctor in the practice...she did a sono and said everything looked fine. If it got worse we'd go from there. That was a Wednesday.

On Saturday Feb 4th I was walking into Hobby Lobby with Nora to purchase a child's art kit for a birthday party Nora was attending that afternoon. As we walked in I felt a gush that just didn't feel normal at all. We went to the restroom and I was bleeding A LOT. I had Nora grab an art kit, we checked out and headed for the car. I explained to Nora that something was wrong and I wanted her to understand because I was going to call the doctor and I didn't want her to be scared by what was said. The on-call doctor called within a minute of me leaving my voicemail. She suggested I head to the ER.

I took Nora home and changed clothes. I told Tim to take the girls to the party (instead of going to the ER) and I'd be fine going to the ER on my own. The on-call dr had called ahead so they took me back very quickly. I had a pelvic exam, blood work and a sonogram. As the sonographer was leaving my room, Tim got there to sit with me. Our friends Emily and Nathan had picked up our girls and taken the girls home with them. It was nice to have Tim with me! Although I will say this...everyone at the ER was awesome and super friendly and attentive...but I was reading the first Hunger Games book and it was honestly quite nice to have some quiet time to read! :D 

The results...threatened miscarriage. In other words a possible tear between the sac and uterus. Go home and rest. Call your dr on Monday.

To be perfectly honest with you...at this point I really didn't know what to think about my pregnancy anymore. I had gone from shock to hopeful to miscarriage preparation to joy and shock of pregnancy excitement to pure fear ...an absolute emotional roller coaster. I was beginning to not know how to feel or what to expect. But after three sonograms I had seen a precious baby jumping around with an amazingly strong heartbeat. But that day leaving the ER I realized that I could only be cautiously optimistic and truly I just wanted to be excited!

I rested all weekend. Tim was wonderful. The girls were excellent! On Monday I called the doctor...I requested an appointment with the doctor that had been on call. I mentioned in this POST about my OB/GYN dying. I saw the nurse/midwife after him because we didn't think we'd have anymore babies. But after the messed up "you are going to miscarry" situation with the nurse/midwife then having the next doctor that had no softness and was too brisk for me...I felt like I needed something more from the person who I'll be spending time with over the next 6 months and who would deliver my baby. I liked the way the on-call doctor spoke to me. I decided to take a chance with her and it was a great chance! She was wonderful.

She did a pelvic and said the cervix is all closed up. She listened to the heartbeat and it was beautiful! I'm seeing her again on the 28th. Dr. Auers and I will be in the delivery room together once again only this time I won't be photographing a birth but giving birth!

For Valentine's day today I went to see a perinatologist. It would seem that when you are over 35 (I'm 37) they think you are high risk for all sorts of things! So I had an NTS or nuchal translucency screening. It's a detailed sono in which they measure the baby's neck for a pad or thickness. Those results, in correlation with bloodwork, allow you to know the risk of a chomosonal problem. (i probably didn't explain that well but if you click on NTS it will take you to a website with a real explanation.) 

I loved the perinatologist. She is great. I will be seeing her over the next few months. We will do a full body scan of the baby at 17 weeks, a heart sono at 23 weeks and then a few more throughout to monitor my placenta due to placenta accreta when I had Madelynn. We want to keep track and hopefully that won't happen again or at least be prepared if it does.

Dr. Abbassi asked me if we had seen a twin in the other sonos that I have had...um no. There on the screen today was an obvious empy sac with what she called "old placenta". Without seeing my prior scans, she truly feels that I didn't have a tear when all that bleeding was going on but that I instead lost a twin. Holy crap...can you imagine us having twins? Yeesh. That actually made me feel a bit better about the bleed I had and it really made more sense than the explanations of "threatened miscarriage or tear in the uterus) Although it did make me sad to think we lost a baby.

Dr. Abbassi said the baby looks good and she even gave me an 80% guess as to the sex of the baby...but my lips are sealed. I'm taking the girls over spring break to find out what the baby is and they can share the news at that time. 

So...here we are at 12 weeks and we are beginning to finally accept this pregnancy and enjoying everything about it...you know - bloating, nausea, peeing a lot, fatigue...no those are silly things...Honestly after seeing that sweet baby today I feel absolute joy. I'm truly excited about this baby. God has surprised us and he is blessing us yet again. We are most thankful!!

It's the final installment. The final addition to our family. We don't care whether it is a boy or a girl as long as it is healthy. The girls are calling the baby "peanut". Nora loves when I find the heartbeat with the doppler. Maddie prays for "peanut butter" when she says her prayers each night.

A slight downfall is that the due date is the Friday before Nora returns to school. So I'm pretty certain we'll have the baby a week in advance...so mid to late August.

We've had a rocky start and a scary start to this pregnancy. We are praying for a healthy mama and a healthy baby. I hope you will add us to your prayers! I look forward to sharing our journey over the next 6 months with you!

until next time...
S 

 

 

 

Stocking Hangers

Once we finally got our mantle hung, I immediately started holiday decorating! I wanted new hangers and new stockings. I had already purchased fabric to make our stockings (which i actually didn't get enough to make Wina's which is why her stocking ended up being houndstooth :D ) 

THe one problem I found was that because I had waited so late to start looking for stocking hangers...there wasn't really much of a selection left in the stores. So what's a girl to do? Make her own!

Hobby lobby had knobs on sale. So I picked up 5 glass and metal knobs. 

I also purchased 5 wood plaques that are about 4 in square. At lowe's I picked up brackets and 1x2 piece of wood. I also picked up commando velco removable hanging tabs.

I cut the wood into 3 inch pieces. I screwed the wood piece to the plaque using 1x3/4" brackets. 

yes...I should've taken the price stickers off, but they were not coming off easily and leaving a sticky residue so I left them on...nobody will see them anyway. Then I spray painted the entire thing black.

I drilled a hole in the center of the square and inserted the the knob. After I put the knobs I put velrco sticky on the bottom on the brace.

Put it on the mantle where you want it to rest. With the removable velcro I can take it off the shelf after Christmas and it won't leave a mess...well at least that's why the product promises!

I think they turned out so cute! The stockings were sewn up last night...procrastinate much? But I really love how it all turned out. 

until next time...

S

 

Our New Mantle

We have a super massice fireplace. Literally it's floor to ceiling with a 2 foot hearth and the entire thing is about 15 ft wide. Two problems i've had with the fireplace - no mantle and brass cover on the front. The brass cover is currently being hidden by old shutters. For now that is working. I have priced a 48" fireplace door set and it's not cheap. We are trying to decide what we are going to do about that. The mantle seemed to be the easiest solution. I bought this at lowes...

I painted it the same color as the trim in the house. TIm hung it a couple of weeks ago..instant love! It really made a huge difference to the fireplace. I immediately started decorating it!

(a quick side note...I used red glitter clothespins to hang our christmas cards (ok some of them since i ran out of clothespins) on the shutters for display! I like!)

I love the way it all turned out...the black and silver and red and white. yummy! (ok so it's not really yummy but it works well with the living room decor!)

Stay tuned and I'll post how I made the stocking hangers!

until next time...
S 

 

December Daily 1 - 5

I started doing this in 2008. I blanked out last year and didn't finish but I'm back on this year!